Random musings on history, politics, and more

Archive for July 31st, 2008

Yep, it’s time for another pile of Kwik Hits: semi-random interesting bits, all short-attention-span style:

Dutch scientists have produced a micro-UAV capable of aerial reconnaissance which weighs just three grams. Yikes.

Ramsey County (MN) Sheriff “King Bob” Fletcher (who can’t protect his own wife from crime) has evidently managed to have his underlings conduct investigations of “terroristic organizations” using, um, Google. Despite this, activists are not amused, and one local group issued a typically weaselly rebuttal. (Obviously, the anarchists are all screwed once Sheriff Bob discovers Cuill…)

Millennials: Rendezvous With Destiny? (PDF!) by Col. Fredrick Fahlbusch argues that the “Millennial generation” are for largely inpenetrable (to me, anyway) reasons destined for greatness. I think it’s a bunch of really wishful thinking, myself. Be warned; this report is really badly written: “FDR’s powerful prognostication is conspicuously salient for our current generation of young adults dealing with the volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity of the aftermath of a post-Cold War/post-9/11 world.” Or, if you prefer, “Millennials are seeing the hope and benefit of social rules. This trait will serve them well for building trust and confidence throughout the world especially when they talk about good governance and the rule of law.” (Thanks, Captain Carrot…)

Projecting Pyongyang (PDF!) by Andrew Scobell examines not the future of North Korea, but the future of Kim Jong Il and the political regime under the Kim “dynasty”. Interesting stuff, and potentially useful, come that glorious, future day when American foreign policy remembers there’s a world outside the Middle East…